Kassig's hometown reacts to his death with grief, anger

The radical jihadist group Islamic State released a video Sunday it said shows American aid worker Peter Kassig being beheaded in Syria.
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In this undated photo provided by the Kassig Family, Peter Kassig is shown with a truck loaded with supplies. The Islamic State group released a graphic video Nov. 16 in which a black-clad militant claimed to have beheaded him.(Photo: AP)

Indianapolis reacted with grief and anger over the Islamic State killing of Peter Kassig, the American aid worker who first went to the Middle East as a soldier, then as a student and finally as a humanitarian.

Kassig, 26, was captured Oct. 1, 2013, during an aid mission to Deir Ezzour, Syria. His parents, Ed and Paula Kassig, learned through a friend that he had been taken hostage but kept silent for more than a year at the insistence of his captors, who threatened to kill him if they went public.

He converted to Islam and took the name Abdul-Rahman while in captivity. His family pleaded for his life, stressing his humanitarianism and conversion to Islam in rallies and interviews in Indiana and Lebanon. His mother also used Twitter in an effort to contact his captors directly.

On Sunday, Kassig's parents issued a statement: "We are aware of the news reports being circulated about our treasured son and are waiting for confirmation from the government as to the authenticity of these reports," they said.

"The family respectfully asks that the news media avoid playing into the hostage takers' hands and refrain from publishing or broadcasting photographs or video distributed by the hostage takers. We prefer our son is written about and remembered for his important work and the love he shared with friends and family, not in the manner the hostage takers would use to manipulate Americans and further their cause."

They tweeted later in the day: "We are incredibly proud of our son for living his life according to his humanitarian calling."

Others in the city where Kassig was born praised his courage and lamented his death.

His death means the world has "lost a man of peace at the hands of fanatics," said Indianapolis Mayor Greg Bullard. "Abdul-Rahman Kassig found his life calling bringing peace and comfort to his fellow Muslims in Syria. The thoughts and prayers of the civilized world go with Abdul-Rahman, his friends and family in Indianapolis, and those who are fighting terrorism around the world."

In a statement, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, said: "Like every Hoosier, I was deeply troubled to learn of claims concerning the fate of Indiana's Abdul-Rahman Kassig. We have all been inspired by this compassionate and courageous young man since we first learned of his selfless service and abduction. … I urge every Hoosier to keep this remarkable young man, his loving family, and friends in our most earnest thoughts and prayers."

Kassig enlisted in the U.S. Army Rangers after graduating from Indianapolis' North Central High School. He served in the Mideast with the 75th Ranger Regiment, a special operations unit, including serving in Iraq from April until July 2007. He was medically discharged as a private first class that September.

He returned to Indiana, enrolling in classes at Hanover College and then at Butler University. During a spring break trip to Lebanon in 2012, he decided to stay and help refugees displaced by the civil war in Syria. Kassig, a trained medic, volunteered at hospitals and later founded a relief organization, Special Emergency Response and Assistance, in the belief that "there was a lot of room for improvement in terms of how humanitarian organizations interact with and cooperate with the populations that they serve."

Butler president James Danko said Kassig "approached life selflessly and courageously, and he upheld the Butler ideal of trying to make the world a better place…. (His killers have) accomplished nothing through this abhorrent act of violence. All (they have) done is taken away a good person who wanted to help the Syrian people."

Kassig understood the risks of working in the region but he felt called to help, his friends and family said. Burhan Agha, 26, is a Syrian who worked with Kassig in northern Lebanon before Kassig moved his operations to southern Turkey. Speaking by phone from Switzerland, where he is seeking asylum, Agha called Kassig's death senseless.

"If I could apologize to each American, one by one, I would," Agha said, weeping. "Because Peter died in Syria, while he was helping the Syrian people. And those who killed him claimed to have done it in the name of Islam. I am a Muslim, from Syria, and he is considered a part of the Syrian revolution."